Halloween 2013

We've had a block party on Halloween every year since we moved here eleven years ago. In the past it has been more elaborate, with a couple of active neighbors organizing it and really making it special. Since they moved away, it hasn't been the same, but a couple of neighbors have stepped up to at least make sure we still have a block party.

This is a picture of Natalie with her good friend Lucas, who is six months younger and still in elementary school. Lucas' mom was one of the previous organizers, and although they moved away, they came back this year to spend some time with their old neighbors. Natalie was a little embarrassed and reluctant to get a picture, but I'm so glad she finally allowed me to take this picture. Lucas used to be her main playmate and we just don't see him much anymore.

In the background is a "haunted house" in our neighbor's garage. Carmen is in the background of this picture, and they do something like this every year. Sometimes they build this in their front yard. It's elaborate by neighborhood standards and the kids have fun walking through.

The neighbors had started getting some tables set up by the time I came home from work, by 4pm or so. We fed the kids then proceeded outside by 5:30pm. Eric took a long time to eat his pizza, so I went outside with Natalie first while Patrick got Eric dressed. Patrick asked Eric if he wanted him to wear his costume also, and of course Eric said yes. Patrick wore this Huntsman costume (from the movie Snow White and the Huntsman) for the Halloween party we went to last Friday. With temperatures up to the 80s, I decided it was too warm for me to put on my coordinating Snow White costume. Patrick complained that he was hot but he kept that costume on until Eric and I finished trick-or-treating.

Natalie was waiting for her friends Margot and Ally to arrive. They were walking from Margot's house, which is probably about half a mile away. I'm certain that they were chatting and taking their time, and probably trick-or-treating on the way, so it was taking them a while to get to our part of the neighborhood. They had decided to dress as characters from the Adventure Time show, a show I had never heard of until Natalie mentioned it in conjunction with planning her Halloween costume. She went shopping with Margot and her mom last weekend to get this DIY outfit. I provided the purple ribbon for her waist. You can't appreciate it in this picture, but she also sprayed a pink color on her hair. Apparently this character is Princess Bubblegum? Natalie does not usually like to wear pink nowadays, unlike when she was a toddler and would only wear pink, so I was surprised at her choice. To me, this shows the Margot's power to persuade her to wear more girly stuff. I don't mind that at all.

Natalie allowed me to take one more picture of her, with her friend Anna. Anna's mom texted me earlier in the day. Anna told her it would not be cool to go trick-or-treating with her 6-year-old sister, so I was happy to volunteer Natalie. Natalie had planned on including her anyway, but I wanted to make sure. Natalie also promised me that I could get a picture of her with her friends when they all got there. Well, it was 6pm and they were still not there, so I went ahead and started trick-or-treating with Eric. Later, I saw them running by me. She never did stop for that group photo so I'm very happy that I took these photos already, so I can preserve this pink costume forever in a photograph.

Eric's and my first stop was Anna's house. Whereas she didn't want to trick-or-treat with her sister, Eric definitely wanted to trick-or-treat with her sister. Aren't they adorable together? Sofia is so photogenic and Eric has such a great smile.

Sofia had a her mom Alicia, a school friend, and her school friend's parents with her. Sofia and her friend were both running from house to house. They were SO excited. Eric trailed behind the whole way. Their bags were pretty full from just a few houses, but not full enough that they were interested in stopping or needed their parents to carry some of their loot. I had brought along a plastic bag in case Eric wanted to lighten his load. We've had to do that in the past, but this time he did not want to let go of his bag or any of the candy in it. Instead he had me carry his lightsaber.

Our blocks are pretty long. We went to the next block and went down then back up to the main street. We went down another block to the cul-de-sac on the end and Eric was done. He wanted to go home. We had to go up the same distance back to the main street again to get home, but he wasn't interested in stopping at any other houses. Sofia and company kept trick-or-treating. I convinced Eric to take his bath, then he could eat what candy he wanted before brushing his teeth and going to bed. We got back after 7pm, so that of course shortened the time that he could eat candy (sneaky mama) from about 7:30-8pm, since his bedtime is 8pm. He was definitely ready for bed at 8pm. He was one tuckered out boy.

Since the contractors left on Tuesday, we've been in clean-up mode, dusting and washing everything before putting things back in place. Halloween was a welcome distraction.